


Almost Canon

by becasbelt



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, One-Shots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:08:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26691175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/becasbelt/pseuds/becasbelt
Summary: One-shots from my tumblr that aren't quite long enough to be stand-alone fics.
Relationships: Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell
Comments: 43
Kudos: 88





	1. oh, so she's a dork

**Author's Note:**

> Hi I don't know how many of these there are going to be, but this is at least a place to keep track of the shorter stuff I write. Title is a reminder of the fact that we were so close to having all of our wildest dreams come true uwu.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe starts to realize that maybe Beca isn't quite as smooth as she likes to let others believe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We all know that Beca is very much not the tough badass she pretends to be, but I can’t help but wonder when Chloe started to realize just how awkward the little DJ truly is. So I decided to write a lil something about it.

Chloe is just finishing up shoving the last of her things into her bag when Beca approaches her.

“Hey, Chloe, I uh, have kind of a dumb question,” Beca says, her voice slightly lowered as if she doesn’t want anyone to overhear.

Chloe smiles. “No question is a dumb question,” she assures the younger girl with a confident nod of her head. “What’s up?”

Beca visibly relaxes a bit at the words. “So I have to go to this seminar thing for one of my classes and it’s in the Life Science building, but I don’t know where that is,” she reveals sheepishly, bringing a hand up to scratch at the back of her head. “I was wondering if you could… give me directions? Maybe?”

Chloe resists the urge to tease Beca about how shy she’s being about such a simple thing. Instead, she zips up her bag with finality and turns to fully face Beca. “I’ll do you one better: it’s on my way home, I’ll lead you there myself.”

*

The walk to the Life Science building isn’t all that long from their rehearsal space. Beca stays mostly quiet throughout the journey, but Chloe doesn’t mind. She chatters on about nothing in particular, feeling particularly proud of herself whenever she can get any sort of reaction from the mysterious freshman- especially when she can get her to laugh.

Beca Mitchell is still somewhat of an enigma to Chloe. After a month of rehearsals and (mandatory) Bella bonding nights, Chloe feels like she has a pretty good read on most of the girls in the group (aside from Lilly; Chloe isn’t exactly sure if she’ll _ever_ be able to hear a word the girl says), but Beca remains a puzzle yet to be solved- a cool, sexy puzzle, but a puzzle nonetheless.

Chloe knows she doesn’t like Aubrey- that much is obvious given how much the two bicker over the dumbest of things. She knows that Beca has a _killer_ set of pipes, even if she doesn’t seem particularly thrilled about it. Aside from that, Chloe can’t seem to figure her out.

And it seems like that’s exactly how Beca likes it. Chloe gets the vibes that Beca isn’t one to show her true colors, opting instead to hide behind a wall of sarcasm and standoffish attitude. A true badass with no insecurities and little regard to those around her.

So Chloe chats about nothing in particular as they walk, all the while feeling proud of herself when she can get Beca to so much as chuckle from a joke she’s made. When they reach Beca’s destination, Chloe holds up her hands in flourish, gesturing grandly at the building.

“And here it is, the great Life Science building,” Chloe announces proudly, smile widening when she sees Beca twist her face to stifle a smile of her own. “Thank you for joining Beale Tours this fine evening. Once again, my name is Chloe, and it was a _delight_ showing you around today.”

Beca rolls her eyes. “You’re such a weirdo,” she says lightly, turning towards the building before walking towards it. She stops halfway and turns her head to glance at Chloe. “Um, thanks… for showing me how to get her.”

“No problem, Beca. That’s what friends are for,” Chloe says with a smile.

Beca gives her a small, close-lipped smile before walking up the steps of the building. Chloe spins around to start walking the rest of her way home, but turns around to glance at Beca one last time, only to see the other girl struggling with opening the doors.

Chloe stops walking and watches Beca’s battle in amusement, biting her lip to stop herself from laughing. After a few long, painful moments, Beca finally tries pulling the doors instead of pushing them and the doors swing open easily. Beca quickly looks around as if to check to make sure that no one had seen her before ducking into the building, out of sight from Chloe’s watchful eyes.

And Chloe feels something stir in her chest right then- something that she quickly recognizes as affection. She turns and starts on her way again, smiling from the whole ordeal. Maybe Beca Mitchell was more awkward than she liked to let on.

Not such a mysterious badass after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Check me out on tumblr at becasbelt!


	2. first kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beca has never kissed anyone before, so Chloe decides to be her first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is definitely inspired by that “Perks of Being a Wallfower” scene where Sam kisses Charlie for the first time, because of COURSE I watched that scene and could only think of bechloe.

“I’m so ready to _not_ be going to class for the next couple of weeks,” Beca says, pulling her jacket tighter around her body as a cold breeze slips through the opening.

Chloe eyes her amusedly. “You know, you could maybe try zipping your coat up,” she teases, tugging lightly at her own zipper near the top of her jacket in demonstration. “That tends to help a lot when you’re cold.”

Beca shakes her head stubbornly. “This isn’t cold, this is _Georgia_ cold. This is nothing compared to Seattle,” she insists, cursing herself the next moment when she shivers again.

“Mhmm,” Chloe hums, not sounding convinced. “Speaking of Seattle, are you going home for winter break?”

Beca nods. “Yeah, I figured I might as well. Free food and all that, you know?”

Chloe giggles. “Yes, that is the _only_ good thing about going home. Definitely not because you miss your mom or anything.”

Beca laughs along with Chloe, figuring that it’s better not to mention that she can count the conversations she’s had with her mother on one hand since leaving for Barden. She bumps her shoulder into Chloe’s as they continue walking. “What about you? Going home for Christmas?”

“Yep!” Chloe chirps excitedly. “I’m actually leaving tomorrow morning. Tom’s dropping me off at the airport and then I’ll be-” Chloe makes a sweeping gesture with her hand along with a rough airplane sound- “flying across the country.”

Chloe’s enthusiasm is infectious, and Beca feels herself start to grin as she watches her. “Tom’s not going with you?”

Chloe wrinkles her eyebrows together at the question. “Why would he?”

Beca shrugs. “I don’t know, isn’t that a thing that boyfriends do? Visit their girlfriend’s family on holidays?”

It takes a moment for Chloe to register Beca’s words, but once she does she starts laughing as if Beca just made a joke. Beca stares at her, feeling confused, until Chloe pulls herself together. “Tom isn’t my boyfriend, Beca. We’re just fuck buddies.”

Beca feels her cheeks heat up despite the chilly weather. “Oh,” is all she can think to say.

“We just help each other… relieve a little tension sometimes, you know?” Chloe continues, unaware of Beca’s embarrassment.

“That’s- okay, yep. Neat. Great.” Beca stumbles over her words, not sure what she should say to this new information.

Chloe gives Beca a curious look, seeming to notice Beca’s struggle. “I’m guessing you’ve never had someone like that before? Like when you’re in between relationships?”

Beca ducks head, kicking at the frost covered sidewalk as they continue on their way. “Uh, nope. Can’t say I have.”

“Wait,” Chloe says, and Beca looks back up. “Have you ever dated anyone before?”

Beca’s cheeks flare up even more. She considers lying for a split second – she really does, she’s lied about it before – but something about Chloe makes Beca feel… comfortable. Like somehow Beca knows that Chloe would never judge her for anything.

Still, Beca avoids eyes contact and huffs out an embarrassed breath. “I didn’t really talk to anyone in my high school,” she admits timidly. “The guys I _did_ talk to were like annoying brothers to me, so I was never into any of them. And the girls-” Beca scoffs a little- “no chance in hell that I could get any of them to talk to me.”

Chloe remains quiet as they round the corner in front of Beca’s dorm, the gears in her head processing this new information. Beca waits anxiously for her response, debating whether or not she should start berating herself for giving out such private information _now_ or later.

“Have you ever… kissed anyone?”

All previous thoughts fly from Beca’s brain at Chloe’s question. She looks up in surprise, not sure what she expected Chloe so say – perhaps a simple “oh” would have sufficed – but for some reason this response catches her off guard. “I mean, kind of the same issue with that,” she jokes weakly, shrugging a shoulder. “So no.”

Chloe is quiet again as they come to a stop just outside Beca’s dorm building. The lampposts cast a soft glow on Chloe’s face as a gentle snow starts falling around them, highlighting the slight wrinkle in her forehead as she considers her next words.

“Do you want to?”

Beca’s breath catches in her throat. “What?” she asks, not completely convinced that she didn’t mishear the question.

“It sounds like the people you went to school with were assholes,” Chloe says, though Beca doesn’t know how that is at all related to your inquiry. “And I really don’t think they knew exactly what they were missing out on.”

Beca forces herself to release a slow breath out, but she quickly inhales it again as Chloe takes a step closer to her. “I mean, it’s not like there were that many great options,” Beca breathes out.

Chloe takes another step closer. “I just think that think that the first person who kisses you,” she says, taking another step. “Should be someone who sees you for who you really are.”

One more step and suddenly Chloe is standing right in front of Beca, so close that she can feel the warmth seeping off of her body, warming Beca in the process.

Beca swallows. Her mind spins in a hundred different directions as she tries to think of what to say until finally she speaks without thinking. “Okay.”

Her responses it quiet, so quiet that she’s not sure if Chloe heard her, but when warm hands come up to cradle Beca’s cold cheeks a moment later she knows she has. Chloe’s eyes flicker around Beca’s face for a moment, mostly shifting between her eyes a lips, before she slowly starts to lean in. Beca’s own eyes flutter shut instinctively as she waits in anticipation for Chloe to close the gap.

The feeling of soft lips against her own still catches Beca by surprise, but only because of how _right_ it feels. One of Beca’s hands grips lightly onto Chloe’s arm, just so Beca has something to ground herself to as she kisses back. Chloe sighs a little and pulls herself even closer to Beca, their shared body heat combined with the sensation making Beca forget about the brisk winter night altogether.

The kiss doesn’t last all that long, really, and soon Chloe is pulling away. Beca’s eyes slowly drift open again to see that Chloe is already looking at her, clear blue eyes sincere and familiar.

“I hope you have a good break, Beca,” Chloe whispers, and then she’s backing up and walking away, leaving Beca standing in a daze under that lamppost outside her dorm as the snow continues to fall around her.

When Beca arrives home to an empty house in Seattle a week later, she forces herself not to think about how kissing Chloe felt more like home than anything she’s felt in a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Check me out on tumblr at becasbelt!


	3. if this is what I get for trying...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe deals with the aftermath of the fight at semi-finals all alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter let me add an "angst" tag to this story (is it a story? idk whatever this collection of one-shots is considered), so obviously I am very pleased with this addition.

_“No, that’s okay. You don’t have to pretend you’re allowed to have a say in the group, right?”_

Beca’s words still echo in the depths of Chloe’s mind hours later, the same way that the sight of Beca storming away from the Bellas plays on a constant loop anytime she closes her eyes. Which is kind of a pretty annoying inconvenience, considering the fact that it is approaching 1:00 AM and Chloe would just like to _sleep_ after the shitstorm of a day she’s had.

Competition days were always some of Chloe’s favorite days, but this one had left her feeling more shattered than she could remember feeling in a while.

With a huff, Chloe rolls out of bed and slips a robe on over her pajamas, deciding that maybe some tea might help her brain calm down enough to get some sleep. Maybe it would help the soreness she felt in her throat from so much singing today as well.

Chloe creeps silently out of her room, noticing that Aubrey’s light is still on in her own room across the hall. Which makes sense, Chloe figures; if _she’s_ having trouble sleeping after everything, there is no doubt in her mind that Aubrey is going absolutely _crazy_ due to their failure to bring honor back to the Bellas.

A good friend would probably check in on her. Then again, a good friend would also listen to their fellow co-captain when they tried to speak their mind on group decisions.

Maybe neither of them were good friends anymore. Maybe they’d never been good friends at all.

Chloe moves on past Aubrey’s room and creeps down the stairs.

In the dark quiet of the night, the Bella’s house has never felt more empty. And sure, it’s felt a little too big all year with only she and Aubrey living in it, but Chloe would never have described it as _empty_ before. It had always been full of things- full of laughter, full of friendship, full of memories. But now all Chloe can feel is the hollowness a year’s worth of tension finally imploding has created.

Going through the motions of making tea is familiar to Chloe, almost comforting in a way. It gives her something to focus on, at least for a little while. It’s only once she’s sat down with her hands cupped around a warm mug that her mind begins to wander again, and with that wandering comes the same questions that she has been wrestling with for hours now.

How the hell did things go wrong so fast?

Where did Beca go to? Is she alright?

Was Chloe really such a push-over that she let Aubrey walk all over her all year long without one complaint? And did everyone really see the problem but her?

Chloe isn’t great with thinking things through on her own. She always prefers talking them out with someone else; she finds it far more productive and therapeutic than stewing in your feelings alone.

She needs someone to help her deal with all this.

Her first instinct is to go to Aubrey, seeing as Aubrey is _always_ her go-to in a crisis, but she obviously isn’t an option at the moment considering that she is kind of the root of Chloe’s problems.

Her parents? No, the idea of bothering them in the middle of the night doesn’t sit well with Chloe.

Tom? Amy? Stacie?

Chloe groans, frustrated as all of her possible options slowly start to dwindle. She puts her tea down and rests her head in her hands, taking a deep breath and willing herself to calm the emotions rising in her chest.

_Beca._

If she was being completely honest with herself, and Chloe _always_ tried being honest with herself, Beca was the only person that Chloe wanted to talk to. And if she was being further honest with herself, it had been that way for a while now. The prickly freshman had quickly and unwittingly wound herself deep in Chloe’s heart, so thoroughly that it made Chloe feel like screaming sometimes. Somewhere between “ _Oh, right. This is, like, a thing now,”_ and _“If this is what I get for trying,”_ Beca Mitchell had become one of the most important people in Chloe’s life.

Chloe feels like if she could just _talk_ to Beca about all this, everything would be okay. She knew that things had never been good between Aubrey and Beca, but Chloe never imagined that it would be _Chloe_ that ended up getting burned in the end.

There was so much that Chloe didn’t understand anymore, when at one point she thought she had it all figured out, and now Chloe was just so _fucking tired._

Her phone buzzes in her robe’s pocket, much to Chloe’s surprise, and she pulls it out with a furrowed brow, swiping at the screen.

**Beca**

_i made it home in one piece. thought you and the girls might want to know._

The text is in response to Chloe’s text asking her if she was going to ride the bus home with them hours ago, and the news that she was at least _okay_ sends a sense of relief through Chloe’s system.

**Chloe**

_Thank you so much for letting me know_

Chloe bites at her nail as she considers her next words.

**Chloe**

_I’m sorry that everything got crazy tonight… and I’m sorry that I couldn’t be there for you when you needed me._

Chloe sends the text off before she can second guess herself ever further. She watches the screen anxiously for a sign of Beca, her breath catching in her throat when she sees the bubbles appear to indicate that she’s typing. They remain for a good minute, disappearing and appearing again as Beca thinks before they vanish for good, leaving Chloe’s apology unanswered.

Chloe’s heart falls hard in her chest as she sets the phone off to the side on the table. The emotions are there again, rising fast enough that Chloe knows she won’t be able to keep them down this time.

So instead of resisting her emotions, Chloe places her arms on the table and rests her head on them, letting out the tears that she’s been holding back for hours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I'm on tumblr at becasbelt!


	4. still got it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The reason Beca belts sexily in "Cheap Thrills" is because she got all miffed by Emily doing fancy vocal layover stuff during "Sit Still, Look Pretty" and wanted to prove to everyone that she was still the Baddest Aca-Bitch™.
> 
> (She still made Chloe validate her skills after the fact, which of course Chloe was more than happy to do)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi this is fluffy with a hint of hurt/comfort.
> 
> Enjoy!

“I mean, it was _alright,_ ” Beca says, shoving against the rickety door of her, Chloe, and Amy’s single-room apartment. She immediately starts wrestling off her jacket as soon as she passes the threshold, irritation making her movements jerky. “It was a good arrangement, I guess.”

She’s referencing the Bellas’ – the _new_ Bellas’ – performance at the aquarium. She’s not lying, it _was_ a good performance, but Beca can’t say she was really all the impressed. So what if they were young, fit, and shiny? Beca had been there. Beca was still shiny. Big whoop.

Chloe hums as she enters after Beca, decidedly much more sober than an hour ago, Amy following closely behind. “It was a good arrangement,” she agrees, moving to take off her heels. “Nice sound, too.”

Beca makes a noncommittal noise from their clothes rack as she finally gets her jacket off.

“Yeah I agree with Ginger,” Amy pipes up, already rifling through their tiny refrigerator for snacks. “I think Legacy might have you tied for aca-arrangement skills, Shawshank.” She pulls out a Tupperware container filled with God-knows-what and sniffs it. “And as much as I hate to admit it, the kid has some pipes.”

Beca whips her head around to stare the Aussie, eyebrows pulled tensely together. “Well of course she can sing,” she says, watching as Amy decides the leftover food in her hands is safe to eat. “Would I have let her into the group if she couldn’t?”

“Technically you weren’t there when we decided,” Chloe points out. Beca turns to glare at her, only to feel her face flush instead when she sees that Chloe is in the process of changing out of her Bellas uniform.

She looks pointedly away from Chloe. “Still, if she sucked I would have done something about it.”

Amy snorts a laugh. “No need to sound so jealous, Beca. You had your time to shine. So Legacy can belt a little? It’s not like _all_ of us can possess those skills- except, for me, of course. You bitches are nothing compared to what I’m capable of.”

The room is filled with Amy’s singing a moment later as she decides to demonstrate those “skills,” the microwave heating up her food providing a strange harmony underneath.

Beca looks over at Chloe for backup, forgetting about her state of undress. “How long does it take someone to get dressed?” she barks, face burning as she pushes through the clothes rack into Amy’s side of the room to find some semblance of privacy in their tiny apartment, the start of a headache already blooming.

* * *

A sigh of relief escapes Beca as her body hits the soft bed in she and Chloe’s hotel room. Why was it that things could never go smoothly for any of them? Beca liked to think they’d worked off their bad karma from Fat Amy flashing the President by now, so why was the universe still intent on making their lives a living hell?

Maybe “Taps” cutting off their performance was symbolic. Maybe it was time to let the Bellas die once and for all.

The mattress dips as Chloe flops face-down beside Beca, neither of them bothering to change out of their performance attire. They lay in silence for a moment, just sulking in their bad feelings.

“Well that sucked,” Chloe says plainly, voice a little muffled by her positioning.

And Beca can’t help but laugh at that, because yeah, that pretty much sums it up.

“I think the universe is telling us to move on,” Beca says, only half joking. She pushes a hand through her hair, not caring about the fact that it’s all done up anymore. “Amy was right; we had our time. I think this was a mistake.”

Chloe rolls onto her side to face Beca. “Excuse me?” she says, and Beca flinches at the alarming tone of her voice. “Is that quitter talk I hear? Because if that’s quitter talk then I’m sorry to tell you that I have to put an end to it.”

Beca shakes her head with another sigh. “It’s- look, okay, it’s _not_ quitter talk, alright? I don’t really mean that. This is just…” Beca searches for the right word. “ _Discouraged_ talk.” She turns her head to look at Chloe lying next to her. “I’m sure by the morning I’ll feel better and all of this will have been forgotten.”

Chloe’s face starts to do that concerned thing where her brow crinkles up and her lips turn down in a small frown and Beca has to look away, sure that if she keeps looking she’s start doing something ridiculous like crying.

“It’s okay to feel bad, Bec,” Chloe says softly, running a hand up and down Beca’s arm. “I’m not happy with how tonight went, either, but I guess…” she trails off, her fingers tapping absentmindedly somewhere around Beca’s wrist. “I guess I just want to make the most out of this last adventure with the girls, you know? Because I don’t know how many more adventures like this we’ll get.”

And that makes Beca turn back to look at Chloe, because Chloe has always been so good at grounding Beca and reminding her what truly matters.

She tries for a small smile. “You’re right,” she says, reaching for Chloe’s hand still on her arm and giving it a squeeze. “We’re just here to spend time with our family.”

Chloe squeezes her hand back, leaning over to give Beca’s cheek a quick kiss before pushing herself off the bed. “Everything will figure itself out, I promise,” she says assuredly, and Beca can do nothing but believe her because Chloe has never broken a promise. “You alright if I use the bathroom first? I need to get out of these pants before they permanently fuse to my legs.”

Beca laughs and assures her that she’s fine to use the bathroom, pushing herself up into a sitting position. She watches Chloe gather up her pajamas with an easy smile, but a small bit of insecurity still lingers in the back of her mind. Just as Chloe is about to exit the room, she speaks up.

“Hey, Chlo?” she calls, and Chloe pauses in the doorway with a curious hum. “Um, I sounded okay tonight, right?” Beca asks, suddenly feeling very shy. “Like, I didn’t embarrass myself or anything?”

Chloe eyebrows wrinkle in confusion. “What? Of course you sounded good! You always sound amazing! What would make you think otherwise?”

Beca shrugs a little. “I don’t know, it’s just… Emily is, like, young and talented and fresh and all that,” she mumbles, avoiding eye contact. “I just want to make sure I can still keep up.”

Chloe smirks a little. “I can _promise_ you,” she starts slowly, the look in her eyes forcing Beca to meet them again, “that you still have the absolute sexiest voice I know.” Beca blushes at the compliment. “And what you did tonight?” Chloe closes her eyes and sighs in a way that makes Beca shudder. “Yeah, I’d definitely say you can still keep up,” she finishes, shooting a wink at Beca before disappearing into the bathroom.

Beca thinks through Chloe’s words and bites her lip, trying to keep her grin in check.

Yeah, she’s still got it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Follow me on tumblr at becasbelt :)


End file.
